Today
saw the first shooting from the self proclaimed "Son of Sam". One died
(Donna Lauria) and one was injured (Jody Valenti) while sitting in a car.

The
killer got his name following a letter he sent to a reporter, Jimmy Breslin:

"I
am a monster. I am the Son of Sam. I love to hunt, prowling the streets looking
for fair game. The weman are prettyist of all."

After
a series of killings across the city, dark haired women in New York were told
not to go out alone.

Vigilante
groups were set up in an attempt to find him. He was eventually detained following
a routine police investigation of his vehicle after a parking ticket. They found
a machine gun in a car belonging to David Berkowitz from Yonkers, New York.

Berkowitz
later explained that Sam [Carr] was his neighbor, an "agent of the devil".
Sam's pet Labrador told Berkowitz to kill people.

Berkowitz
was allowed to plead guilty (rather than insanity) and was sentenced to 300 years
in prison.

It
was on this day...

1588
The 'Invincible' Spanish Armada Is Defeated by English Navy

England's
ships were under the command of Lord Charles Howard and Sir Francis Drake.

The
battle began on 21st July 1588. A 7 mile-long line of Spanish ships was stationed
off the southern coast of England, ready to attack. The English made good use
of their innovative, for their time, long range guns which managed to thin out
their numbers (before this, the usual method of fighting was to board the ships
and then close-quarter fighting onboard).

The
Armada landed at Calais (thus a base to control the English Channel), and began
an operation to get their troops to Flanders from where they could be shipped
over to England.
It was widely assumed that Spain's superior infantry could have easily beaten
the English equivalent in a land battle.

This
plan was foiled after the English sent burning ships into the crowded harbor (on
this day) which forced the Spanish ships out into the open sea where they were
attacked by English ships, finally putting an end to any hopes of an invasion
of England.

The
reason for the Spanish attack? To stem the English raids against Spanish trading
routes, Queen Elizabeth's support of the Dutch rebels in Spanish controlled Netherlands,
and to bring England back into the Roman Catholic fold.